Bennett Not Guilty

The trial of Dr. Charles T. Bennett, of Detroit, upon the charge of murder, was finished in superior court at Grand Rapids, Thursday afternoon, when a verdict of not guilty was rendered. The jury was out but a few minutes. The doctor was arrested last fall on a charge of causing the death of Alta Richards, a young woman who went to Grand Rapids from Adrian [sic] to be treated. She called upon the doctor in his room in the Eagle hotel and he administered chloroform himself, with only a chambermaid as an assistant, performing a slight operation. The woman died under the influence of the drug and it was shown that he had no proper restoratives at hand. The defense showed on the trial, however, by many medical men, that the doctor could not be blamed. There were internal conditions of which he could not be expected to know, and which were found only in the post-mortem. The defense was conducted by William F. McKnight, of Grand Rapids, and Congressman Henry C. Smith, of Adrian.